The eight-time Eisner/Harvey Award–winning comic book series returns this year. Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory continues the adventures of the wise dogs in Dark Horse Comics’ unique blend of fantasy, humor, and horror. An elder member of the pack of recalls a harrowing World War II mission where a mysterious curse creates an army of crawling, disembodied heads threatening to overwhelm Japan. The dogs attempt to solve the mystery, coming into conflict with shape-changing tanuki, evil oni, and a horde of vengeful demons. Writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer and letterer Nate Piekos return with artist Benjamin Dewey to take fans of the long-running, episodic series where they’ve never encountered this anthropomorphic pack of brave sleuths before.
The book collects Issues #1-4 of the single-issue series in a hardcover compilation. Here’s a preview from Dark Horse Comics of Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory:
We’ve discussed previous Beasts of Burden stories before here at borg and the animal stories are among the best of the outgrowth of shorts from Dark Horse Presents, the anthology series.
Dorkin and Jill Thompson first introduced their animal sleuths in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings and they made regular appearances throughout the “Dark Horse Book of” series (all collected now in the affordable The Dark Horse Book of Horrors), earning them Eisners for Best Short Story and Best Painter. In 2009 the beasts of Burden Hill received their own miniseries, Animal Rites, and in 2010, they met up with Hellboy. In 2012, the gang was back in Neighborhood Watch. And Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers won the Best Single Issue Eisner in 2015. In 2016 the Burden Hill gang returned with the one-shot issue Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In followed up with Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men and Beasts of Burden: The Presence of Others in 2019.
Add Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory to your local comic book store pull list now. Look for it in stores in November at Elite Comics, your local comic book store, or pre-order it now here at Amazon.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
